The Bird and the Garden 2: Restart!

Chapter 36: Vale News Department

The sun hadn't even come up yet when Y/N and Weiss stepped into the building, greeting the sleepy secretary as they approached the front desk.

"Good morning, ma'am," Weiss called.

"... Mm... Morning..." She mumbled. "Lisa's interns, right? She's in her office. And here, the keys to yours." Y/N took them from the secretary's hands as she passed them over the counter, staring at the room numbers. It looked like he and Weiss would be working right next to each other.

Following Ironwood's orders, they didn't wear their earpieces, keeping them in their pockets. Too suspicious; with how close Lisa was getting to them, he worried she would notice. Which by all means she would. She was as sharp as a knife. They bade their farewells to the secretary, making their way to the top floor in silence.

They were nervous. Lisa proved her dangerousness the day before during their interview. The last thing they needed was for her to get worse. and as the doors opened, they met the amber eyes of the reporter.

"Good morning," she greeted. She glanced at her watch, a pleasant smile crossing her lips. "You are ten minutes early. How very diligent."

If Y/N was being honest, Weiss was the one who dragged him out of bed. When he told her about being fashionably late, she started throwing things at him and blaming 'that drunkle' for influencing him. Not that she was wrong - Qrow really did tell him that growing up, along with his father. He took it to heart and sometimes did it in classes back in Signal. Vao just didn't show up to things he didn't like altogether, which is why he almost failed first grade. That's... Probably why Vao was grounded most of first grade, now that Y/N thought about it. If only he knew the truth of the war crimes his older brother committed to his literacy teacher's desk.

Lisa beckoned them with her hand, leading them down the halls and to her office, inviting them inside. Y/N and Weiss internally groaned. They were hoping to see their offices before this, at least. As they sat down in front of Lisa's desk, the woman strutted to the window, looking at her scroll for a moment. She closed the device, a smirk playing on her lips again.

"... Last night, one of our coworkers managed to set up an interview with three teachers from Beacon Academy," she said. She seemed proud of that. She turned, a strange glint in her eyes. "The three of us will interview them. Taking Mrs. Snow's disability into account, you will be aiding the cameraman."

"Who are these teachers?" Weiss asked. Lisa looked down at her scroll again, reading to herself quietly. "... Professor Bartholomew Oobleck, Professor Tyrian Callows, and Professor Peter Port. They taught the terrorists before they made themselves known. We'll be meeting them no later than nine at central park."

Weiss and Y/N looked at each other worriedly. Lisa had to have something planned. Or maybe it was just that at the end of the day, she was still a news reporter. Perhaps both. They could hear the other staff members beginning to file in through the elevator, talking quietly to each other as they went to their respective office. Lisa smiled - and promptly pushed them out of the office, leaving them with orders to spectate their coworkers, learn from them.

It was almost painful for both. Neither of them knew what they were doing, but everyone was patient with them. Lisa watched from afar, her eyes narrowed and her grin expanding.

Things were going her way. Just as she predicted, Y/N and Weiss had no prior training, and were struggling to keep up. In her excitement, the monitors began to flicker. She quickly stifled herself, smoothing out her suit. People were looking around confusedly, muttering quietly about the possibility of a power outage. Lisa turned on her heel, leaving the work office.

Her heels clicked against the ground, halting when she stepped into her empty office. As she walked past, she placed a mug under the coffee blender. Without the use of her hands, it began to brew. She leaned against the desktop and picked up her scroll, going over her notes carefully.